Web support and upholstery construction



Feb. 5,

M. KRAUSE WEB SUPPORT AND UPHOLSTERY CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 14, 1927 Patented Feb. 5, 1929.

UNITED STATES MAX KRAUSE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WEB SUPPORT AND UPHOLSTERY CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed January 14, 1927. Serial a... 161,037.

connection with the frame, and while maintaining the frame free from certain destructive effects due to spike elements driven into the wood. A specified object is to provide an improved form of web support over that shown in my said co-pendingapplication whereby the frame is preserved against splitting, through the application of the web support, and whereby at the same time the web support is more securely and permanently held in its normal position. It is a general object to provide a web support of the character described which is of simple and cheap construction, and one easily applied.

Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a fragmentary 0 sectional view through a frame part and webs showing how one of the webs is normally nailed to the under surface of the frame, and with my improved web holder in its operative position; Fig. 2 is a top view of the structure shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional View as on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a perspective of the preferred form of my improved web holder, being the form shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3; Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively simple forms of the web holder having but a single anchoring spike, while Fig-7 shows a form similar to that of Fig. 4 but as made from Hat material.

In upholstery construction for seats it is ordinary and well known practice to provide a plurality of parallel longitudinal webs 15 and a plurality of parallel transverse webs 16, the two series of crossing webs being interwoven or interlaced, as well shown in Fig. 2. so In certain of the constructions a separate wooden frame is provided, which may be rectangular or have some other shape as called for by the shape of the seat or back of the upholstered article, the frame being open at as top and bottom. Such frame parts are marked 17 in the drawings. In lieu of such separable frame the structure of the chair or other article may constitute the frame. In old practice the fabric webs are folded at their ends and simply nailed to the frame by relatively long nails, the webs having first been drawn as taut as reasonably possible.

The webs 15 and 16 constitute supportin elements for a plurality of springs 19, an at the other ends of these springs there is padding and a finishing piece of fabric, not shown ut well understood.

The weight of the person is therefore communicated through the springs to the webs 15 and 16. According to the, old practice this pressure is communicated to the nails substantially in the direction of the nails. The oft-repeated pressures upon these nails works them loose, especially after the wood of the frame dries out. Another objection is that these relatively long nails driven into a relatively narrow frame cause the wood to split whereby the nails become loose. For various reasons, after one series of nails has been driven into the frame at a given place the repair job by adding additional or other nails is unsatisfactory. The old construction does J not provide the desired strength and security,

freedom from the necessity of repairs, or length of life of the parts in service.

According to the present improvements the objections to the old practice are overcome to a very notable extent through the provision of a web-holding element which relieves the nails of much of the strain upon them and changes the direction of such strains to one normally at right angles to the direction of the nails, thus avoiding their pulling out, and at the same time permitting the use of much smaller nails, saving the frame from ob'ectionable splitting, and also making the we s more taut.

In my said co-pending application I have shown a web holder and tightener very much like the device of Fig. 4 of the present drawings, the characteristic difference being that in the present structure one leg of the holder is longer than the other. This holder 20 of Fig. 4 is made from a single piece of stout wire, the thickness of which will vary according to the strength desired but which in usual practice maybe iron wire about one-eighth of an inch in diameter. It comprises a crossbar 20 and two upstanding end parts, legs or connection members 20 and 20, the ends of which are turned over and sharpened to provide the spike-like elements 20 and 20",

these spikes extending substantially at right angles to the legs or connecting members respectively.

The length of the cross-bar 20* is such that the web as 16 will conveniently fit. between the legs or connecting members whereby' this cross-bar will lie on the normally under surface of the web in such constructions as are illustrated and hold the web firmly from one of its edges to the other. The spikes 20 and 20 may well be threefourths of an inch in length, but for relatively thin frame parts they may be shortened.

With respect to the legs or connection members 20 and 20, a length of one inch for the member 20* and between one and one-fourth and one and one-half inches for the member 20 will be found suitable in most constructions.

In this connection it is pointed out that where supporting members such as shown in my said co-pending application, and in which the legs or connection members are of equal length, the tendency and effect of the spikes entering the wood on substantially the same lines of the grain is to split the Wood of the frame. Fig. 3 shows how close together the edges of adjacent webs running in the same direction will ordinarily come, and therefore how close to each other will be the spikes on the adjacent holders when positioned as in Fig. 3. This tendency and eflect of splitting the wood is overcome through the construction herein illustrated wherein there is a material distance in the up-and-down directions between these closely adjacent spikes as 20 and 20 on different but adjacent holders, and thus the holder is held securely for one thing while the destructive effects mentioned are avoided as to the frame.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a form of holder 25 formed of a single piece of stout and substantially heavy wire which will preferably be of iron and having across-bar 25, a pair of legs or connection members 25, one thereof being secured to the other as by the turn or eye .at 25, and the other having the spike or nail 25. In Fig. 6 there is shown a construction in which the holder 30 is cut out of flat stock such as sheet metal and comprises the cross-bar 30, short legs 30, top transverse members 30", and a short upward extension 30, the metal being-turned over to provide a nail or spike element 30*.

With respect to Figs. 5 and 6 the construction is such that a single spike will hold the device, and since there is considerable distance between spikes of adjacent holders'the splitting of the wood is avoided.

Fig. 7 shows what is to all effects and purposes the device of Fig. 4, but formed of fiat metal stock. It requires no detailed description over that given for Fig. 4.

In applying the present structure the nails as 30 driven through the fold 16 Fig. 1) and into the frame may' be cons1derably shorter and of less size generally than according to the old practice, and thus the destructive effects upon the frame are lessened. Assuming that the webs have been drawn as taut as is reasonably possible and secured by nails such as 30, my web-supporting device, when in the form of say Fig. 4:, is next applied, one to each end portion of the web immediately adjacent to the inner lower edge of the frame, as shown in Fig. 1. The spikes are started into the wood at slightly advanced places and driven home whereby the web is drawn upward at the lower inner corner of the frame and whereby the direction of the web is changed so as to extend from the lower surface of the frame first upwardly and then across to the other side of the frame. The results are first, that the web is drawn still more taut; secondly, that the downwardlydirected strains upon the web when in use are now converted into strains which are at right angles to the nails as 30; with the further advantage that the strains are distributed over aplurality of points of contact so that there is much less tendency of the fabric to tear at the nails, and, also, the tendency of the web to pull away from the nails in the downward direction, as in the old practice, is overcome.

When a form such as is shown by Fig. 5 is-used the web will be threaded through the open space of the device before the ends of the web are nailed to the frame.

It is to be understood, of course, that the holding member is applied to each of the webs where secured to the frame, and that the webs extend across the open bottom of the frame and are secred to it at each end of the web sections respectively.

I contemplate as being included in these improvements such modifications of and departures from what is herein specifically illustrated and described as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In upholste construction, the combination of a woo en frame part having its grain longitudinally extending, a plurality of webs nailed to the under surface of said frame part so as to extend laterally in a common direct-ion, adjacent ones of said webs being substantially close together, and holders drawing the webs respectively upward closely adjacent to the frame, said holders respectively having a web-engaging part underlying the web and a pair of spike elements spaced apart longitudinally of the frame part and driven into the frame part, the spike elements of the respective holders being so arranged with respect to the webengaging part thereof that spike elements which are on adjacent holders and which are also adjacent to each other are in materially spaced apart parallel lines extending longispike member extending a proximately at 1 tudinally of the frame part. right angles from each 0 the connection 2. Su porting means for a thin and submembers and arranged to be driven into a stantial y wide flexible web for u holstery frame part adjacenttothe web normall posiconstruction of the character descri comtioned, the direct line distance from t e bar prising a cross-bar adapted to engage the to the spike elements respectively being dif- 1 web, a pair of connection members integral ferent to a substantial extent. with the cross-bar and extendin in the same general direction therefrom, and an integral MAX KRAUSE. 

